Easy Paint Tool SAI: Differences and which one is better

Hello artists! Today I bring you a new article about Paint Tool Sai, a while ago we had talked about this program in a previous publication “Paint Tool Sai for Artists, what is it and how does it work?” , where we delve deeper into what this program offers us and how it works. Today we have to talk about the two versions of Sai that exist (1 and 2), what are their differences, and which one suits us when drawing.

It should be noted that this program, despite being well known for “being free”, is not, it is a paid program just like others.

Know the program:

‍Paint Tool Sai 1 is illustration software used to create digital artwork in any style. The platform offers us a simplified user interface, something that I found very good for when you are just starting to use programs of this type. It has a large number of tools that are easier to use if you are starting to draw with a tablet, unlike other complex applications such as Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint, which are more professional tools for illustration.

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Tools:

At once I tell you that the toolbar is very limited, at the beginning when I started drawing digitally it seemed perfect, but as you learn more and more things we will need a more complete program. However, it is possible to find airbrushes, markers, pencils, brushes, watercolors, crayon, broad-tipped markers and additional resources, you can also configure and create your own brushes as well as find other users’ brush configurations online.

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Interface

As I mentioned above, the interface of this program is very intuitive and easy to use, you will be able to find the layers and tools on your left side and the work area on the right side, everything is very simplified so don’t worry about headaches in finding where everything is.

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Paint Tool Sai “2”

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Now that I’ve told you a bit about the first version of Paint Tool Sai, we have to talk seriously about the second version. Although it is already available, Paint Tool Sai 2 is only an incomplete and trial version. Currently the second version is under development, so the one found in downloads from the page is a test version, which includes many bugs.

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It has been reported that there are different tools with bugs when saving files especially. There are also bugs that affect the display of the same file in other programs such as photoshop, when exporting files from sai to photoshop for example, you have to delete the rules or tools that are not present in the other program and that are exclusive to sai, since this will not let you export the file to photoshop. I highly recommend not using this version if it’s not just for testing, as bugs may affect your work.

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The SYSTEMAX team is still developing the second version, but with this test version we can see some changes in its tools and what lies ahead when the development of the program ends.

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New tools are coming!

‍When testing this version I was able to find that a preview of the brushes was added, as we modify it, we will be able to see how it will look, you can also change the background behind the brush to have a better view of it.

More brush options:

Below we can see a new toolbar within the brushes called Scatter, and this tool offers you to modify the brushes in greater depth compared to the first version that opted for few options. Now you will be able to modify the angle of the brush, the space and the effects of this, which will allow us to create better brushes that adapt to our work. These new options are very similar to what Clip Paint Studio also offers us.

tools collection

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The program offers us several collections of tools by default, and in the GRP 5 area, you can configure your tools as you like to have easy access to them.

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Rules

Something that greatly increases the value of the program is the addition of rules! Something that we could not have in the first version and that was sorely lacking. What is true is that if we want to save the document, or export it to photoshop or another program, this tool will not allow it, so you will have to rasterize the rules or delete them before saving or exporting.

There is also something that you will be fascinated by, but Sai added a symmetrical ruler, for those who cannot draw the right eye the same as the other, or need both sides to be perfectly equal, this is your solution to all those problems. .

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In summary!

‍SAI 2 At the moment it is a preview of the tools that are coming within this program, but it is not finished yet and you will only find the trial version, so we will find many bugs, so I recommend continuing to use the latest version Updated by SYSTEMAX from Paint Tool Sai Ver.1.2.5. All that remains is to wait for the developer team to finish the full version to wait for new tools that will change the use of this simple program to more complex ones.

‍Have you already tried Sai 2? What do you think about it? tell us below!